2025 Readings 98

 Most of the 98 books I've read so far this year I've liked quiet a bit, and, of course, there are others that I was less impressed by. In the latter category would fall Baek Sehee's I Want to Die but I want to Eat Tteobokki. Last week I read a couple stories in the BBC about Baek Sehee's death, almost certainly a suicide. I had not read her book so I tracked it down. She certainly cut a sympathetic character in the book, which took the form of a series of conversations between her and her therapist. To me, the problem was one of the challenge of translating literary works across different cultures. My understanding is that in South Korea has still been frowned upon to discuss mental health issues, and, in this way, I believe her book is very important. However, since these topics have been a part of the Western literary and cinematic tradition for so long it's simply impossible for it to have the same impact. I'll doubtless revisit it down the road sometime.